How to Choose Your Wedding Party

The Best Advice I Got About Choosing My Bridal Party

The Best Advice I Got About Choosing My Bridal Party

Choosing your wedding party is hard. It's a combination of feeling like you are in middle school, ranking your friends, and also thinking about the long term and who you'll still have by your side five, 10, or 20 years down the line. Over a month after asking all my bridesmaids to be in our wedding, I could not get my mind off the one close friend I hadn't asked. I couldn't quite put my finger on why I hadn't asked her, and I kept going back and forth. We already had a big wedding party. Would it be crazy to add one more to the mix? Would that mean my husband would need to find another groomsman?

I was talking to another friend about what to do, and she gave me advice that stuck: "If you are going back and forth on it, you should ask her. Wouldn't you rather regret including someone than regret not including them?" She was totally right. All my concerns about having one more bridesmaid were bullsh*t. It totally reframed my thinking: we already had a big party — why not add one more? Five years later, this ninth bridesmaid remains one of my closest friends, and I am so happy when I look at my wedding pictures and see her standing beside me.

This was the best advice I got about choosing my bridal party, and I'm so glad I took it. Read on for other tips I wish I had handy at the time.